Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Module 6: Evidence Handling Procedures Examiner Training Program (n.d.).…

- - - - Minute, transient, yet measurable evidence. Typically found in the lab when larger evidence is being examined. Trace evidence can be extremely important evidence in an investigation. Therefore, investigators should be cautious of its presence and know how to collect it safely and document it correctly.
    - - All evidence must be photographed and collected with proper techniques dependent on the situation and type of evidence. It is crucial that all evidence is handled with proper care, packaged, and documented properly to establish integrity. The risk of contamination or degradation needs to be completely minimized through the quality of its collection in order to maintain integrity. The order in which examinations are done to evidence also needs to be specific to prevent compromising the results of the subsequent examination. Firearm evidence can lose its integrity if the barrel rusts, if lead bullets oxidize in soil, if jacketed bullets oxidize due to human tissue, or if clothing with gunshot residue on it is exposed to weathering.
- - - - Handling firearms as evidence has specific protocols in regards to packaging, documenting, and recovery from locations such as water. The most important rule is to unload the firearm prior to packaging/transport. The unloaded ammunition should be identified in relation to the firearm that it was removed from. Fired bullets and bullet fragments may be found at the scene or by the ME, they should be marked and packaged according to agency protocol. They will have to be packaged individually in pasteboard boxes, plastic containers, or envelopes and additionally wrapped in paper to preserve trace evidence and unique microscopic marks. The number of bullets found should equal the number of cartridge cases found. Casings and shotshells should also be packaged individually and marked following protocol.
    - - If it is possible, take the object or cut out/remove the area that bears toolmarks. If it is not possible or extremely difficult, casting materials may be used to lift the impression. If an item was removed from its source for evidence, it should be marked according to agency protocol which will require its location from which it was removed. Toolmark evidence should be packaged in heavy paper to protect trace evidence and identifying marks. If a tool is collected as evidence itself, it should be individually packaged in a safe and secure container that will not only prevent the possible loss of trace evidence, but will also protect handlers from bodily fluids and sharps.
    - - Evidence related to firearms consists of any object or item such as clothing that bears a bullet hole or gunshot residue. This type of evidence should be collected, marked according to protocol, air dried if necessary, and packaged individually to protect GSR. This type of evidence is sent back to the lab for microscopic chemical testing.